June 4 '07: In what is a first of its kind, Boeing has announced a partnership with the FBI to place staff analysts at a Seattle FBI Fusion Center intelligence sharing office "to set an example of how private owners of critical infrastructure can get involved in such centers to generate and receive criminal and anti-terrorism intelligence," Washington Technology News reported.

According to Richard Hovel, Boeing senior advisor and aviation and homeland security, the partnership will be "the first of many similar efforts across the nation that will establish a collaborative partnership between the public sector and industry, and protect our critical infrastructure more effectively and expeditiously," WashTech quoted.

Public/Private cooperation is essential Hovel said in his testimony last May in Washington State. Currently the private sector owns and maintains 80 percent of the nation's critical infrastructure and so cooperation with federal, state and local agencies will be crucial, he said.